Understanding the Self Lesson 1

The Self from Various perspective;Philosophy

Socrates was a Greek Philosopher and one of the very few individuals who shaped Western
thoughts. However, unlike the other philosophers during his time, Socrates never wrote
anything. Knowledge about Socrates is through-second hand information from the writings of
his student Plato and historian Xenophon.
Socrates was known for his method of inquiry in testing an idea. This is called the Socratic
Method whereby an idea was tested by asking a series of questions o determine underlying
beliefs and the extent of knowledge to guide the person toward better understanding. Socrates
was described to have gone about in Athens questioning everyday views and popular Athenian
beliefs. This apparently offended the leaders in his time. He was then accused of impiety or lack
of reverence for the Gods and for corrupting the minds of the youth. At 70 years old, Socrates
was sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock.

Some of Socrates' idea were:

• The soul of immortal
• The care of the soul is the task of Philosophy
• Virtue is necessary to attain happiness
Socrates believed that philosophy had a very important role to play in the lives of the people.
One of his most-quoted phrases is, "The unexamined is not worth living." According to him,
self-knowledge or the examination of one's self, as well as the question about how one ought to
live one's life are very important concerns because only by knowing yourself can you hope to
improve your life. Socrates believed that you as a person should consciously contemplate, turn
your gazed inward and analyze the true nature and values that are guiding your life.
He added that self-knowledge would open your eyes to your true nature; which contrary to pop
culture, is not about what you own, how many likes you get in your social media posts, or ho
successful you are in your career. In fact, your real self is not your own body. According to
Socrates, the state of your inner being (soul/self) determines the quality of your life.
Socrates said existence is of two kinds:
1. The visible 2. The invisible
The visible existence changes while the invisible existence remains constant. This is the state of
the human being. The body which is visible, changes; the other part, the kind that is invisible to
humans yet sensed and understood by the mind remains constant. In the Socratic dialogue, Plato
wrote what Socrates have said about the body and soul; "When the soul and the body are
together nature assigns our body to be a slave and to be ruled and the soul to be the ruler and
master". However, Socrates said that the body was a reluctant slave, and the soul get dragged
towards what is always changing. This would leave the soul confused.
Socrates also believed that the goal of life is to be happy. How does one become happy?
According to him, the virtuous man is a happy man, and that virtue alone is the one an only
supreme good that will secure his/her happiness. Virtue is defined as moral excellence, and an
individual is considered virtuous if his/her character is made up of the moral qualities that are
accepted as virtues, 1.e., courage, temperance, prudence and justice. According to Socrates, even
death is a trivial matter for the truly virtuous because he/she has realized that the most
important in life is that state of his/her soul and the acts taken from taking care of the soul
through self-knowledge.
Plato
Plato was the student of Socrates. He wrote the Socratic dialogue where Socrates was the main
character and speaker. Plato's philosophical method was what he identified as "collection and
division." In this method, the philosopher would collect all the generic ideas that seemed to have
a common characteristic and then divided then into different kinds until the subdivisions of
ideas became specific. He is best known for his 'Theory of Forms that asserted the physical
world is not really the real world because the ultimate reality exists beyond the physical world.
Plato is perhaps the single most important influence of the western concept of self. According to
Plato, the soul is indeed the most divine aspect of the human being. However, his concept of the
divine is not a spiritual being but rather one that ha intellectual connotation. The self/soul/mind
according to Plato is the aspect of the human beings by which the Forms (ideas) are known.

The three parts of the soul according to Plato are:

• The appetitive (sensual)
The Element that enjoys sensual experiences, such as food, drink, and sex.
• The rational (reasoning)
The element that forbids the person to enjoy the sensual experiences; the part that loves truth
hence, should rule over the other parts of the soul through the use of reason.
•The Spirited (feeling)
The element that is inclined toward reason but understands the demands of passion; the part
that loves honor and victory.

St. Augustine
~Also called St. Augustine of Hippo, is one of the Latin fathers of the church, one of the Doctors
of the church, and one of the most significant Christian thinkers. His philosophical approach to
Christian thinking is the most influential theological system. His written works are among the
foundations of medieval and modern Christian thought.
~He was deeply influenced by Plato's ideas. He adopted Plato's view that the self is an
immaterial (but rational) soul. Giving the Theory of Forms a Christian perspective, Augustine
asserted that these Forms were concepts exiting within the perfect and eternal God where the
soul belonged. Saint Augustine said that the soul held the truth and was capable of scientific
thinking.
~He also reasoned that human beings through the senses could sense the material, temporal
objects as we interacted with the material world; the immaterial but intelligible (def. able to
understood only by the intellect, not by the senses) God would only be clear or obvious to the
mind if one tune into his/her immaterial self/soul.
The aspect of the self/soul according to St. Augustine are;
• It is able to be aware of itself
• It recognizes itself a holistic one.
• It is aware of its unity
Saint Augustine believed that the human being who is both soul and body is meant to tend to
higher, divine, and heavenly matters because of his/her capacity to ascend and comprehend
truths through the mind.

Rene Descartes
A French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He is considered the Father of Modern
Western Philosophy. Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of
reason to describe, predict and understand natural phenomena based on observational and
empirical evidence.
~He proposed that doubt as a principal tool of disciplined inquiry. His method was called
hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes referred a methodological skepticism. It
is a systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs in order to determine
which beliefs could be ascertained as true.

~~"Cogito Ergo Sum" -"I think, therefore I am" became a fundamental element of western
philosophy as it secured the foundation for knowledge in the face of radical doubt. He asserted
that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof of existence because human
senses could be fooled. He added that there was only one thing we could be sure of this world,
and that was everything could be doubted. In turn, by doubting his own existence, Descartes
proved that there is thinking entity that is doing the act of doubting. Descartes' claims about the
self are:
It is constant; it is not prone to change; and it is not affected by time
• Only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout time
The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.
he further asserted that this thinking entity could exist without the body because it is an
immaterial ….

John Locke
~A philosopher and physician and was one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers. The
Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason.

If Descartes describe the self as a thinking thing, Locke expanded this definition of self to include
the memories of that thinking thing. Locke believed that the self is identified with consciousness
and this self consists of sameness of consciousness. This usually interpreted to mean that the
self consists of memory; that the person existing now is the same person yesterday because
he/she remembers the thoughts, experiences, or actions of the earlier self.
A person's memories provide a continuity of experience that allows him/her to identify
him/herself as the same person over time. This theory of personal identity allows Locke to
justify a defense accountability.
The person is the same self in the passing time, he/she can be held accountable for past
behaviors. However, Locke insisted that a person could only be held accountable for behaviors
he/she can remember. Locke believe that punishing someone for behaviors he/she has no
recollection of doing is equivalent to punishing him/her for actions that was never performed.

David Hume
A Scottish philosopher, economist and historian during the age of Enlightenment. He was a
fierce opponent of Descartes's Rationalism. Rationalism is the theory that reason, rather that
experience, is the foundation of all knowledge. Hume alongside with John Locke ad bishop
George Berkeley, was one of the three main figureheads of the influential British Empiricism
movement. Empiricism is the idea that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience. It
emphasized the role of experience and evidence (especially sensory perceptions) in forming
concept, while discounting the notion of innate ideas.
Hume is identified with the bundle theory wherein he described the self or person (which He
assumed to be the mind) as a bundle /collection of a different perceptions that are moving in a
very fast and successive manner; it is in a perpetual flux. Hume's theory began by denying
Descartes' view of immaterial soul and of its experiences. Empiricists like Hume believed that
human intellect and experiences are limited; therefore, it is impossible to attribute it to an
independent persisting entity (i.e., soul). David Hume concluded that the self is merely made up
of successive impressions.
Hume divided the mind's perceptions into two groups stating that the difference between the
two "consists in the degrees of force and liveliness with which they strike upon the mind."
1. Impressions. These are the perceptions that are the most string. They enter the senses with
most force. Theses are directly experienced; they result from inward and outward sentiments.
2. Ideas. These are the less forcible and less lively counterparts of impressions. These are
mechanisms that copy and reproduce sense data formulated based upon the previously
perceived impressions.
Hume asserted that the notion of the self could not be verified through observation. For Hume,
the self was nothing but a series of incoherent impressions received by the senses. This
description of senses revealed, according to Hume, no permanently subsisting self.
Hume compared the self to a notion; whereby a nation retains its "being a nation" not by some
single core or identity but by being composed or different, constantly changing elements, such
as people, systems, culture and beliefs. In the same manner, the 'self' according to Hume is not
just one impression but mix and a loose cohesion of various personal experiences. Hume
insisted that there is no one constant impression that endures throughout your life.
Hume did not believe on the existence of the self. He stressed that your perceptions are only
active for a long as you are conscious. According to Hume, should your perception be removed
for any time (such as when you are sleeping), and you can no longer sense yourself then you also
cease to exist. In this line, Hume seemed to reduce the self as a light bulb that may be switched
on or off.
Hume's self is a passive observer similar to watching one's life pass before the eyes like a play or
on a screen; whereby the total annihilation of the self comes at death.
Immanuel Kant
A central figure in modern philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics,
and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that
followed him. Among other ideas that Kant proposed was that, the human mind creates the
structure of human experience.
Kant's view of the self is transcendental, which means the self is related to a spiritual and
nonphysical realm. For Kant, the self is not in the body. The self is outside the body, and it does
not have the qualities of the body. Despite being transcendental, Kant stressed that the body and
its qualities are rooted to the self. He proposed that it is knowledge that bridges the self and the
material things together.
Two kinds of consciousness of self (rationality):
1. Consciousness of oneself and one's psychological states in inner sense, and 2. Consciousness
of oneself and one's states y performing acts of apperception. Apperception is the material
process by which a person makes sense of an idea by assimilating it to the body or ideas he or
she already possesses.
Kant's point is that what truly exist are your ideas and your knowledge of your ideas; that you
perceived the outside world through the self with your ideas. Kant pointed out that the material
world is not just an extension, and that you are merely seeing objects. He insisted that you
perceived the outside world because there is already an idea residing within you. These ideas
are what connect you to the external world. He defended the diverse quality or state of the body
and soul (self) presenting that "bodies are objects of outer sense; souls are objects of inner
sense." Two components of the self.
1. Inner self. The self by which you are aware of alteration in your own state. This includes your
rational intellect and your psychological state, such a moods, feelings, and sensation, pleasure,
and pain.
2. Outer self. It includes your senses and the physical world it is the common boundary between
the external world and the inner self. It gathers information from the external world through the
senses, which the inner self interprets and coherently expresses.
Kant proposed that the self organizes information in three ways:
• Raw perceptual input
• Recognizing the concept
• Reproducing in the imagination
Kant's self has a unified point of self-reference you are conscious of yourself as the subject, and
you are conscious of yourself a common subject of different representations. Here Kant confirms
that the impressions you perceive point to one single common fact- the self is the subject of
these experiences.

Understanding the Self Lesson 2

The Self from Various perspective;Sociology
"Not only is the 'self' entwined in society; it owes in society its existence in the most literal
sense."
-Theodor Adorno
The Self as a Product of Modern Society Among Other Constructions

~Modernization has significantly changed society, and this has affected how an individual build
and develop his or her self-identity. Pre-modern society was centered on survival.
Modernization, has improved people's living conditions. A person in the modern society is free
to choose where to live, what to do and who to be with. However, stability has also decreased as
traditions and traditional support systems, such as the family, have decreased in importance. In
modern societies, individualism is dominant, and developing one's self identity is central.

Key Characteristics of Modernity

According to Giddens (1991), the most patent, major characteristics of modernity are:
1. Industrialism- the social relations implied in the extensive use of material power and
machinery in all processes of production.
2. Capitalism- a production system involving both competitive product markets and the
commodification (putting a price tag) of labor power.
3. Institutions of Surveillance- the massive increase of power and reach by institutions,
especially in government
4. Dynamism- the most evident characteristic of modern society. Itis characterized as having
vigorous activity and progress. In a modern society, life is not a predetermined path with limited
options based on location, family, or gender, it is a society full of possibilities. Everything is
subject to change, and changes happen much more rapidly than ever before in human history.

Social Groups and Social Networks

Sociologist Georg Simmel expressed that people create social networks by joining social groups.
A social group is described as having two or more people interacting with one another, sharing
similar characteristics, and whose members identity themselves as part of the group. An
example of social groups is your family, your barkada, your classmates.

~Social network refers to the ties or connection that link you to your social group. the
connection your have in your barkada is your friendship; and the connection you have with your
classmates is the common interest to learn.

A social group is either organic or rational. An organic group is naturally occurring, and it is
highly influenced by your family. This is usually formed in a traditional society because there is
little diversity in these communities. Sociologist Georg Simmel stated that you join these groups
because your family is also part of it,. He called it Organic Motivation. The positive effect of
organic groups is rootedness. Gving the person a sense of belongingness. Organic group imply
less freedom and greater social conformity. You are expected to act and behave according to your
community's standards.
Rational groups occur in modern societies. Modern societies are made up of different people
coming from different places. The family in modern societies is not the main motivation when
joining rational social groups. Rational groups are formed as a matter of shared self-interest;
moreover, people join these group out of their free will. Simmel called this Rational Motivation.
Rational groups imply greater freedom, especially the freedom of movement.

Mead and the Social Self

"A multiple personality is in a certain sense normal."
--George Herbert Mead
On the other hand, while you get to know yourself and understand others by watching people,
how can you understand yourself? Can you "watch" yourself as objectively as you do the others?
This is the question that sociologist George Mead explored.
George Herbert Mead was a sociologist. He is well known for his theory "Theory of the Social
Self." Mead's work focused on how the self is developed. His theory is based on the perspective
that the self is a product of social interactions and internalizing the external. Mead believed the
self is not present at birth; rather it develops over time through social experiences and activities.

Developing the Self

Stages of self development are language, play and game.
According to Mead, self-development and language are intimately tied. Through shared
understanding of symbols, gestures and sound, language gives the individual the capacity to
express himself or herself while at the same time comprehending what the other people are
conveying. It sets the stage for self-development. Second stage for self-development is play. At
this level, individuals role-play or assume the perspective of others. Role playing enables the
person to internalize some other people's perspectives; hence, he or she develops an
understanding of how the other people feel about themselves (and about others, too) in a
variety of situations.
Game stage is the level where the individual not only internalizes the other people perspectives,
he or she is also able to take into account societal rules and adheres to it, The self is developed
by understanding the rule, and must abide by it to win the game or be successful at an activity.
Two Side of Self: I and Me
Mead sees the person as an active process, not just a mere reflection of society. The 'me' and the
'I have didactic relationship, which is like a system of checks and balances. 'me' is the product of
what the person has learned while interacting with others and with the environment. Learned
behaviors, attitudes, and even expectations compromise the 'me.' The 'me' exercises social
control over the self. It sees to it that rules are not broken.
'I' is that part of the self that is unsocialized and spontaneous. It is the individual's response to
the community's attitude toward the person. The 'I' presents impulses and drives. It enables
him/her to express individualism and creativity. The 'I' does not blindly follow rules. It
understands when to possibly bend or stretch the rules that govern the social interactions. It
constructs a response based on what has been learned by the 'me."

Understanding the Self Lesson 3

The Self from Various perspective;Anthropology

The Self and the Person in Contemporary Anthropology

~~Anthropology is the study of people, past and present. It focuses on understanding the
human condition in its cultural aspect. In general sense anthropology is concerned with
understanding how humans evolved and how they differ from one another.
A Unit but Unitary
One definition of self in modern anthropology characterizes the term in its most general,
ordinary, and everyday use. Anthropologist and professor, Katherine Ewing (1990), described
the self as encompassing the 'physical organism, possessing psychological functioning and
social attributes.' This definition portrays the self as implicitly ad explicitly existing in the mind
comprised of psychological, biological, and cultural processes.
Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux conceptualized the implicit and explicit aspects of the self. The
aspect of the self that you are consciously aware of is the explicit self while the one that is not
immediately available to the consciousness is the implicit aspect. This concept can be traced to
the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud's level of consciousness; however, LeDoux's view on
how the self was developed asserted that it is framed, maintained and affected biologically,
mentally and socially. The self is not static; it is added to and subtracted from genetic
maturation, learning, forgetting, stress, ageing and disease. This is true of both the implicit and
explicit aspects of the self.

Self as Representation
Ewing asserted that a self is illusory. People construct a series of self- representations that are
based on selected cultural concepts of person and selected chains of personal memories. Each
self-concept is experienced a whole and continuous, with its own history and memories that
emerged in the specific context to be replaced by another self-representation when the context
changes. By self-representation, Ewing meant culturally shaped self-concepts that one applies to
oneself; it is the mental entities that are supposed to represent the self.

The Self Embedded in Culture

How individuals see themselves, how they relate to other people, and how they relate to the
environment are deeply defined by culture. If one finds the view that the self is a product of
society, then it is plausible that the ways of how the self is developed are bound to cultural
differences as well.
Cultural anthropologists have argued that the self is culturally shaped and infinitely variable.
The basic idea is that the principles of how the mind works cannot be conceived of as universal,
but that it is as varied as the culture and traditions that people practice all over the world.
Cultural Psychologists distinguished two ways of how the self is constructed. These are the
independent and dependent constructs. These self-construal's are also embedded in culture.
Construal is an interpretation of the meaning of something;, in the sense, the meaning of self.
The independent construct is characteristics of individualistic culture, such as in North America
and Europe. Individualistic culture represents the self as separate, distinct with emphasis on
internal attributes or traits, skills and values. The interdependent construct is typical of
collectivist culture in East Asia stressing the essential connection between the individual to
other people.
Relationship
Culture influences how you enter into and maintain relationships. For example, relationship may
be seen as voluntary or as duty-based. In Western societies, it is essential for a person to choose
whom to marry while some Eastern societies still practice arranged marriage.
Personality Traits
Culture influences whether (and how) you value traits, like humility, self-esteem, politeness,
assertiveness, and so on, as well as how you perceived hardship or how you feel about relying on
others.
Achievement
Culture influences how you define success and whether you value certain types of individual and
group achievements.
Expressing Emotions
Culture influences what will affect you emotionally, as well as how you express yourself, such as
showing your feelings in public or keeping it private.

Understanding the Self Lesson 4

The Self from Various perspective;Psychology

"The self thus becomes aware of itself, at least in its practical action, and discovers itself as a
cause among other causes and as an object subject to the same laws as other objects."
- Jean Piaget
The Self as a Cognitive Construction
Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think, and feel. It includes topics, such
as how the brain works, how our memory is organized, how people interact in groups, and how
children learn about the world.

Psychologist Jean Piaget was a Swiss Clinical Psychologist known for his pioneering work in
child development. He pioneered the "Theory of Cognitive Development," a comprehensive
theory about the development of human intelligence. The theory deals with the nature of
knowledge itself; and how humans gradually come to acquire, construct, and use it.

Cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of a mental process resulting from

biological maturation and environmental experience. He believes that children construct an
understanding of the world around them, experience inconsistencies between what they already
know and what they discover in their environment, and then adjust their ideas.~~Cognitive
development is at the center of the human organism. Piaget (1952) observed how children
processed and made sense of the world around them and eventually developed a four-stage
model of how the mind processes new information encountered.
There are three basic components to Piaget's cognitive theory. These are:
1. Schemas/Schemes - These are the building blocks of knowledge. Schemes are mental
organizations that individuals use to understand their environments and designate action.
2. Adaptation - It involves the child's learning processes to meet situational demands. 3. Stages
of Cognitive Development - They reflect the increasing sophistication of the child's thought
process.
According to Piaget, the knowledge children acquire is organized into schemas or groupings of
similar actions or thoughts. Over time, these schemes may change, but they provide an
important base level of information about particular events, object, and information.
Assimilation is the application of previous concepts to new concepts. For example, a child who
was just learned the word "fish," shouts "fish!" upon seeing one. Meanwhile, Accommodation
happens when people encounter completely new information or when existing ideas are
challenged. For example, a child knows dogs and cats. At school, he/she learns the word
"animals." The child will then adjust her understanding that dogs and cats are both animals.
People often have to form a new schema or alter existing mental categories to accommodate
new information.
In the "Stages of Cognitive Development," Piaget theorize that children progress through 4
stages and that they all do so in the same order. Table 1 Piaget's stages of cognitive development

Harter's Self-Development Concept

Psychologist, author, and professor, Dr. Susan Harter (1999) detailed the emergence of
self-concept and asserted that the broad developmental changes observed across early
childhood, later childhood, adolescence could be interpreted within Piagetian framework.
Additionally, Harter expanded her self-development concept until adulthood. The development
of self-concept according to Harter is as follows:
•Early Childhood The child describes the "self" in terms of concrete, observable characteristics,
such as physical attributes ("I'm pretty/ugly/strong"), material possessions ("I have lots of
toys"), behaviors ("I love playing with my toys"), and preferences ("I like candies").
• Middle to Later Childhood - The self is described in terms of trait like constructs (e.g.. smart,
honest) that would require the type of hierarchical organizational skills characteristics of logical
thought development.
•Adolescence - This is the emergence of more abstract self - definitions, such as inner thoughts,
emotions, attitudes, and motives. For example one 15- year old girl in a study on
self-conceptions described herself as follows: "What am I like as a person? Complicated! I'm
sensitive, friendly, outgoing, popular, and tolerant though I can also be shy, self-conscious even
obnoxious...
• Emerging Adults - The marked characteristic of "self" for emerging adults is having a vision of
a "possible self." It is the "age of possibilities". In one Australian study (Whitty, 2002) early
emerging adulthood (ages 17-22) was found to be a time of "grand dreams," of being wealthy
and having a glamorous occupation, but beyond emerging adulthood (ages 28-33) the visions of
a possible-self became more realistic, if still optimistic.
William James and the Me-Self; I-self
"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook," wrote William James in his ground breaking
masterpiece, The Principles of Psychology, written in 1890. A figure commonly known as "the
Father of American Psychology," philosopher, psychologist, and university professor, William
James gave one of the earliest self-theory psychological analyses. According to James (1950), the
"self" has two elements; the I - Self and the Me - Self.
I - Self is the pure ego. It is the "self that is aware of its own actions. The I-Self characteristically
has four features. These are:
1. A sense of being the agent or initiator of behavior. I believe my actions have an impact;
that I cause an effect in my environment.
2. A sense of being unique. This is how I am different from everything in my environment; I
perceive there is only one Me.
3. A sense of continuity. I am the same person from day to day
4. A sense of awareness about being aware. I understand what is going on in me and around
me; and I know I understand it.
The Me-Self is the self that is the object. It is the "self" that you can describe, such as your
physical characteristics, personalities, social role, or relationships, thoughts feelings. James
called it the empirical self. Empirical is defined as "based on, concerned with, or verifiable by
observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic".
The dimensions of the me-self include:
1. Material - physical appearance and extensions of it such as clothing, immediate family, and
home;
2. Social - social skills and significant interpersonal relationships; and
3. Spiritual-personality, character, defining values.

Real and Ideal Self-Concepts

Carl Ransom Rogers was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic
approach to psychology. Humanistic psychology is a psychology perspective that rose to
prominence in the mid-20th century. This approach highlighted the individual's innate drive
toward self-actualization and the process of realizing and expressing of one's own capabilities
and creativity .
Humanistic psychology emphasized the active role of the individual in shaping their internal and
external worlds. Rogers stressed that a person is an active, creative, experiencing being who
lives in the present and who thinks, feels and responds to his or her environment. He coined the
term actualizing tendency, which refers to a person's basic instinct to succeed at his or her
highest capacity.
Personality development and the self-concept
Rogers based his theories of personality development on humanistic psychology and theories of
subjective experience. According to Rogers, all behavior is motivated by self- actualizing
tendencies and these tendencies drives you to reach your full potential. He believes that the
world a person exists in is the center of constant changes, and the person reacts to these
changes. As a result of this constant interaction with the environment and others, an individual
forms a structure of the self or self-concept an organized, fluid, conceptual pattern of concepts
and values related to the self. If the person holds a positive self-concept, he or she would tend to
feel good about himself or herself, and would generally see the world as a safe and positive
place. If the person holds a negative self-concept, the he or she may feel unhappy with who
he/she is.
Ideal self vs. Real self
Rogers further divided the self into two categories: the ideal self and the real self. The ideal self
is the person that you would like yourself to be;. It is idealized image of self that the individual
has developed based on what you have has learned experienced. For example, your parents are
medical doctors who are respected and admired in your community. Observing your parents,
you conclude that to be happy, you need to be smart and have a high paying job. Your ideal self
may be someone who excels in science subjects, spends a lot of time studying, and does not get
queasy easily.
The ideal self could include:
1. Notions influenced by your parents;
2. What you admire in others;
3. What the society sees as acceptable; and
4. What you think is in your best interest.

The importance of alignment

Rogers accentuated the need to achieve consistency between the ideal self and the real self.
According to Rogers, "If the way that I am (the real self) is aligned with the way that I want to be
(the ideal self), then I will feel a sense of mental well-being or peace of mind. In other words,
when you're real self and ideal self are very similar you experience congruence. High
congruence leads to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy, productive life"
~When there is a great inconsistency between your Ideal and real selves or if the way you are is
not aligned with what you want to be, then you experience a state Rogers called incongruence.
He added that incongruence could lead to maladjustment. Maladjustment is defined as the
inability to react successfully and satisfactorily to the demands of one's environment.

Multiple vs. Unified Selves

William James said, "Properly speaking, a man has as many social selves as there are individuals
who recognize him and carry an image of him in their head."On the other hand, social
psychologist Roy Baumeister (2010) said, "But the concept of the self loses its meaning if a
person has multiple selves... the essence of self involves integration of diverse experiences into a
unity... In short, unity is one of the defining feature of selfhood and identity."
These two statements represent one of the oldest puzzles for psychologists in their study of the
"self." The question is not just "What is a "self?" but "Is there just one self or there are many
selves?" Most likely you would say, "of course there's just one self. There's just me. I am the one
reading this book. "True. This observation is justified since there is only one physical body
reading the text. However, let us reflect deeper. When you talk about "self" you are not just
talking about your physical body. There is something in you that cannot be reduced to biology,
chemistry, or physics. Thus, the question "Who am I (really)?" remains relevant then and now.

The Unity of Consciousness

The human experience is always that of unity. For example, you dropped a hot pot because
forgot the potholder. The experience of feeling pain and dropping the pot displays striking unity.
It was you who experience both pain and the act, rather than a string of consciousness where
one part felt the pain and the other dropped the pot. It was experienced by "you" - a single,
distinct, conscious entity in the situation.
The unity of consciousness was a central topic for classical modern philosophers. This idea was
pushed by Descartes, the mind (that is the thinking, experiencing being) is not made up of parts;
thus, it cannot be a physical substance because anything material has parts. Descartes claimed
that this "being" is of unified consciousness and not composed of merged fragments.

One Self or Many Selves?

Contemporary psychological studies challenged the notion of a single, district, "only one" notion
of self. Several major personality theorists proposed that the mind is made up of several
sub-selves.
Allport's Personality Theory
Psychologists Gordon Allport (1961) proposed his "personality trait" theory asserting that every
person possesses "traits". According to Allport, a "trait" is your essential characteristic that
never, ever changes and sticks with all your life. Moreover, these traits shape who you are (how
you think, feel, or behave, etc.) in any given day (Hall, & Lindsay, 1957; Morris, et al., 2002).
The Ego States
In 1960 psychiatrist Eric Berne began to develop his transactional analysis model as basis for
understanding behavior. Transactional analysis is anchored on two notions:
1. Every person has three parts called "ego states" in his or her personality.
2. People communicate with one another assuming roles of any of these ego states.
Berne presented the ego states as:
1. Parent
2. Adult
3. Child
The parent ego state is the voice of authority. It could be comporting "nurturing parent" voice or
a "controlling/critical parent" voice that tells what you should or should not do. The Adult ego
state is the rational person. It is the voice that speaks reasonably and know how to assert
himself or herself. There are Three child ego states. First is the natural child who loves to play
but is sensitive and vulnerable. The little professor is the curious child who wants to try
everything. The adaptive child is the one who reacts to the world. He or she trying to fit in or is
rebelling against authority.
Domains of the Self
~~ the human self has three related, but separable, domains. These domains are:
1. Experiential self;
2. Private self-conscious; and
3. Public self/persona.
Henriques described the "experiential self" as the theater of consciousness because it is the first
to experience its beingness (the states or fact existing). He added that the experiential self is
closely tied to memory. The "private self-conscious" can be described as the narrator interpreter.
It is the self that narrates the unfolding events and at the same time tries to make sense of the
experience. The "public self or persona" is the image you project to the public. This is the image
that interacts with others and will influence how others see you.
True vs. False Selves
Imagine that people are like onions. The center of the onion needs to be protected by the layers
to be able to survive. At the center of the onion lies our true self, surrounded by layers we have
developed through our lives as protection. These layers are our false self. Most of us needs our
false selves as protection to survive childhood, and we carry these layers with us through our
adult lives because these protective layers helps us endure.
In 1960, an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst, D. W. Winnicott introduced his concept of
"False Self" and "True Self." According to Winnicott the "self" is simply "the person who is me"
(1960; 1965). Winnicott also proposed that the healthy core of a healthy person's self is hidden
from the outside world, influenced by the external (harsh) realities. The false self is put up to
depend the core from these realities and prevent it from any changes.

False Self
Winnicott expressed that the false self is the product of early experience. It is a defensive
organization formed by the infant because of inadequate mothering or failures in empathy. He
added that the false self is developed as the infant is repeatedly subjected to maternal care that
intrudes upon, rejects or abandons his or her experience. The false self is also based on being
completely obedient to the parent's wishes. Winnicott asserted that when the child is constantly
expected to follow rules, a false self develops. The false self is a mask or a persona. It is a form
defense that constantly seeks to anticipate others' demands and complying with them, as a way
of protecting the true self from a world that is felt to be unsafe.
However, when the person has false self but can still function both as an individual and in the
society, then he or she has a healthy false self. The healthy false self feels that it is still connected
with the true self. Thus, it can be complaint without feeling guilty that it abandoned its
true self. On the other hand, there is also the unhealthy false self. An individual who may seem
happy and comfortable in his or her environment but actually feels forced to fit in and constantly
needs to adjust his or her behavior to adapt to the social situation is said to have an unhealthy
false self.

True Self
True self flourishes in infancy if the mother is positively responsive to the child spontaneous
expressions. Winnicott described true self as a sense of "self" based on "spontaneous authentic
experience." It is an awareness that bodily functions are working, such as the heart pumping, as
well as simply breathing. Moreover, true self, according to Winnicott (1960), is part of the infant
that feels creative, spontaneous, and real. It has a sense of being alive and real in one's mind and
body, having feelings that are spontaneous and unforced. This experience of aliveness is what
allows people to be genuinely close to others and to be creative. Winnicott believed that people
unconsciously repeat early relationships (particularly the mother-infant relationship) in one
form or another. A child whose mother is positively responsive and supports the child's natural
process of individuation will grow up as an adult with a stable self- image; views other people
realistically; and accepts both the positive and negative side of every person including
himself/herself.